COVER STORY: Outdoor Asian welcomes new members

Lottery and provided to outdoor programs like Blackpackers, Wilderness on Wheels, and Lincoln Hill Cares. To apply, they must bring engaging experiences to low-income youth, youth with disabilities, LGBTQ+ youth, or BIPOC communities.

A board of community members with experience in diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives will determine which grant applications are approved for the program. This funding can cover the costs of gear rentals, transportation, food, staffing, and more.

“The Colorado Outdoor Equity Grant Program will enable underserved communities to meaningfully engage with the outdoors,” said Jason Swann, Western Lands Policy Analyst and co-founder of Rising Routes, in a press release. “Access to nature shouldn’t be a luxury afforded to only a few, but a rightful privilege bestowed to everyone in Colorado.”

Patricia Cameron, founder of Blackpackers, pointed out the benefits to nonprofits during an online forum promoting the bill.

“The program could bring some peace of mind... Nonprofits depend on donations, the goodwill of the people,” said Cameron. “It fluctuates on what social movement is quote-unquote popular. It’s good to know there’s something that might be stable as public interest might wane.”

The bill—which was sponsored by Representatives Leslie Herod and David Ortiz, Senate President Leroy Garcia, and Senator Sonya Jaquez Lewis—was recently signed by Governor Polis. It promises to change who is being included and accounted for in the outdoors, a step towards making recreation more accessible and equitable for all Coloradans.

“I was elated! I am immensely proud of all that our team has accomplished, and I am grateful to Rep. Herod and the bill cosponsors for all of their contributions,” said Jamie Diaz, the communications manager for The Wilderness Society. “The next step is for our coalition to work with Colorado Parks & Wildlife to recruit and seat the board. In the next couple of months, we will hire an OEGP staff person and work on creating an inclusive and accessible grant application.”

To find more information about the Outdoor Equity Grant Program when it becomes available, visit their website at cpw.

state.co.us/outdoor-equity-fund.

What This Bill Does

• Creates equitable access opportunities so that more youth from a diversity of backgrounds may have outdoor experiences. • Allocates grants to a wide variety of providers statewide, including the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, Ute

Mountain Ute Tribe, school districts, nonprofits, recreation districts, etc. • Establishes a board and staff who have experience in justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in pro-

viding outdoor, environmental, and recreational education programs. • Provides quantitative and qualitative grant reporting requirements that allow the grantees to highlight who they are serving and how they are serving them.

This will be crucial information as the board looks to expand access and opportunity for youth statewide.

State agencies and organizations with a youth-centered or youth-focused priority will also benefit from this knowledge.

Historically, people of color have been excluded from outdoor spaces. A 2020 report by the Hispanic Access Foundation and the Center for American Progress found that racial minorities are three times more likely than white people to live in “nature-deprived” places where there is no access to parks, paths, and greenery.

This is the result of violent legacies of racism and discrimination that have ensured present-day BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) are without generational wealth and remain segregated from white suburbs.

Even those who do have physical access to recreational opportunities find that these places are not always safe, inclusive, or affordable.

A study of Asians in San Francisco found that Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, and Filipinos were significantly less likely to participate in outdoor activities when promotional materials for mountain areas required English literacy. To gain the resources and knowledge needed to safely navigate trailheads, assimilation is often the expectation.

“We [Asians] are rarely thought of as active participants in that industry. Far too often, we’re pigeonholed into mischaracterizations,” writes Gene Han for the Outside Business Journal. “As AAPI interest in the outdoors and related consumer spending continues to grow, it doesn’t feel as though the invite to participate is freely given. A culture of racial gatekeeping still exists.”

Outdoor Asian is an organization that strives to change this reality. Started by Christopher Chalaka, this group’s mission is to create a diverse and inclusive community for Asians and Pacific Islanders in the outdoors. They believe that by connecting with one another, we can connect with our ancestral histories rooted in this land as well. This work is a form of resistance, healing, and advocacy.

“Outdoor Asian was founded because of white supremacy in outdoor spaces; we must constantly question ourselves and examine how that supremacy permeates our mindsets,” Their statement reads on Black Lives Matter. “We will stand-up to anti-Blackness in our communities, call out the words and actions that harm, and support Black folx in this fight.”

In the years since its creation, Outdoor Asians has formed chapters in Washington State, Colorado, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and Los Angeles. The Colorado chapter is currently managed by Giselle Cummings.

“As I’ve gotten older, it’s become more important for me to find community and help build spaces for other AAPIs. In Colorado, I feel like that is so essential to community wellness and feeling a sense of belonging,” said Cummings on her leadership role in the group. “My hope for Outdoor Asian is to continue that great intersectional and partnership work previous chapter managers built, organize more opportunities for beginners to try new activities, and continue to navigate COVID-19 safely.”

Outdoor Asian started as a platform where the AAPI community could share their experiences participating in what nature has to offer. But over time, it grew into a network where Asians could connect with their peers and plan local outings or social events together. In Colora-

creates community in Colorado’s outdoors

By Kiana Marsan

Chatfield Park Clean Up on June 27

do, the group has attracted both casual participants in recreation as well as those who are looking to pursue the industry in a professional capacity.

“I was hoping to find a community that supported me in both outdoor activities and my Asian American identity. Moving to Denver was a culture shock to realize how little Asian influence existed in what was considered a relatively popular city,” said Jessica Lee, an event coordinator for the group. “Coming out of this turbulent last year has revalidated the importance of having a safe space for people of color.”

Bryan Yee, another event coordinator, shares these sentiments about the necessity of comfortable and safe spaces given the rise in anti-Asian hate.

“It is important for groups like this to exist because people of color should have access to the outdoors, without having to worry about being stereotyped or what people are going to think of them. They need a space where they can talk about sensitive topics free of judgment,” said Yee.

Through collaborative efforts such as Outdoor Asian, the AAPI community is making a space for themselves and their presence known. Outdoor Asian Colorado always welcomes new members. To get involved, join their Facebook group Outdoor Asian Colorado, sign up for their newsletter, or email outdoorasianco@ gmail.com for more information.

Seedlings Swap Event

Adventure is always calling!

Colorado Asian Americans share their love of the outdoors

Giselle Cummings ^

My favorite memories of building community outdoors have been going hiking with friends that haven’t hiked before. Creating a lowrisk and welcoming space for a friend to dip their feet into outdoor activities is the best way to spark an outdoor light bulb for someone! In Colorado, we are very lucky to have amazing places a short drive away from our bigger cities like Boulder, Denver, Colorado Springs and Fort Collins.

I love that the people who get out to enjoy nature are very supportive and the type to help you on the trail. They offer support and encourage you along the way. There’s just something about walking outdoors that tends to reduce stress levels and relax people, which leads to more open and honest conversation.

Being a slow hiker, I tend to have a lot of people pass me, lap me, and come down while I’m still on the way up. It never ceases to amaze me that people take the time to encourage me, offer me food or water if they see me struggling, or check in when they see me again. As a solo hiker, the sense of comradery among the folks on the trail with you makes my heart warm even when it’s 30 degrees at the top!

The most memorable outdoor experience I had was backpacking in Medicine Bow last August. We made our way over a ridge and heard faint sounds of music at the top. We saw lone musicians playing gypsy jazz with a banjo and guitar. They were musicians from New Orleans who had lost all their gigs due to COVID-19, so they were playing in the most beautiful, remote places they could think of. A private concert in the backcountry was an incredible excuse to take a break, so we dropped our packs and danced on the trail as they played.

Bryan Yee ^

Jessica Lee Tarika Cefkin ^

‘Invisible for a long time:’

Asian American students and parents in Colorado call for more support, AAPI history

After a year in which Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders experienced violent hate crimes during the coronavirus pandemic, students and parents in two Denver metro area school districts are calling for schools to better support AAPI students.

Among their requests are more mental health services for AAPI students, more assistance for AAPI student alliances on campus, and the inclusion of more AAPI history in the curriculum. Colorado and the West have a rich Asian American history that too often isn’t told.

“The AAPI community has felt very invisible for a long time,” said Kai Vong, a graduating senior at Denver’s East High School who is Chinese American.

As part of a nationwide reckoning with racism sparked by high-profile cases of police brutality against Black men and women, schools have been grappling with how to teach about race. But it wasn’t until a mass shooting of Asian women in the Atlanta area in March that the rise in anti-Asian hate became part of the national conversation in a significant way.

In the wake of the shooting, two Colorado mothers began pushing for change in their respective school districts. In Denver Public Schools, former school board member Rachele Espiritu sent a letter to current board members advocating for the inclusion of more Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander history in the curriculum.

Though the school board passed a resolution in October pledging to diversify the curriculum, AAPI history was left out, Espiritu said. Only Black, Indigenous, and Latino history were explicitly named in the district’s Know Justice, Know Peace resolution.

“We ask the board to right this wrong by amending the resolution to include the only other marginalized racial group not mentioned,” Espiritu told the board.

In the neighboring Cherry Creek School District, parent Colleen Chan formed an AAPI parent task force to advocate for changes to the curriculum there. The group testified before the school board, which led to a meeting with top district administrators.

“Asian American stories are left out in education, in society, and we can’t separate that from the violence happening right now across the country,” Chan said.

Both districts have promised to make curricular changes, and spokespeople said the work is already underway. Carrie Olson, president of the Denver school board, said that Denver’s resolution was meant to be inclusive of all communities and that the board will “amend the existing resolution to make clear our intention in honoring AAPI history.”

“I do look forward to working with them and learning more about, ‘Where are the holes and the pieces the board can fill in?’” Olson said.

At a recent school board meeting, three Denver students who graduated in May testified along with Espiritu. They said they learned very little AAPI history in school.

Aidan Reidy, who attended North High School, said she learned about Denver’s historic Chinatown, located a century and a half ago in what is now lower downtown, from a Buzzfeed video. In 1880, a white mob attacked the community, killing one man, brutally beating others, and burning businesses.

Hannah Im, who attended DSST Montview High School, said Asian history was taught in her sophomore world history class through a white Eurocentric lens. “We did talk about Asian countries but in the way they were colonized by European countries,” Im said.

Reidy, Im, and Vong each founded an Asian American Pacific Islander student alliance at their respective high schools because none existed when they were freshmen. Im, who is Korean American, said she wants the district to help more schools start AAPI student alliances and help the alliances that already exist improve and grow.

The Cherry Creek School District AAPI Parent Task Force, founded by Colleen Chan (third from left), presented the importance of incorporating AAPI history into schools’ curriculum to the CCSD School Board on April 12. Chan founded the task force to address the urgent needs of the Asian American community and provide a safe place for parents to connect. Denver students Hannah Im, Kai Vong, and Aidan Reidy testify at a Denver school board meeting on May 20 along with former school board member Rachele Espiritu. Photo Credit: Chalkbeat Colorado.

By Melanie Asmar, Chalkbeat Colorado